Pages

Labels

Monday, February 05, 2007

Well, I may not have liked 'The History Boys', but I've got to say I loved Landscape by Lamplight last night. It's how history should be done - creeping down alleyways in the dark with a bloke who tells anecdotes about sex shops. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, that was due in part to my having the foresight to wear gloves, thermal socks and a woolly hat, unlike Lisa, who found it hard to concentrate on the history due to being more concerned that she might be dying from hypothermia. I offered her my hat, but apparently frostbite is preferable to looking stupid.

Anyhoo, if there's one thing history has taught us, it's that Lisa and I are late for everything, so as we trotted up to the Pavilion gates, local historian Geoffrey Mead was already leading the group through them and off in the other direction. So we spent the first ten seconds of the walk running. To be honest though, I didn't mind. When I told Lisa yesterday evening that we'd be meeting Geoffrey, she said "What, from Rainbow?", so I was slightly relieved we missed the introductions. She might have asked him where Bungle is.

The most important piece of information Geoffrey gave us all night was that the Pavilion Gardens Cafe sells "rock cakes to die for". Needless to say I can't take his word for it, so expect a report in the near future. From there we made our way past the Lesbian & Gay AA meeting and into North Street where Geoffrey informed us that a hundred years ago Costa Coffee was a Strict Baptist Church, until the Baptists sold the building to a company who promptly turned it into Brighton's first ever sex shop. Which caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth. And not just from the sex shop customers.

We also learnt that the oldest building in North Street is Timpsons the shoe-menders. I say cobblers to that. But apparently it dates from 1780.

As we climbed the hill, Geoff told us that the former beadle of Brighton was nicknamed 'Billygoat' because he once shot a goat thinking it was a stray dog. Of course, if that goat had been tethered, the whole sorry incident would never have happened, so maybe Lisa has a point. After that we proved there's safety in numbers by venturing down an alley behind the multi-storey car park and loitering in the shadows for five minutes without getting mugged, before emerging by the stage door of the Theatre Royal which, it was pointed out, is the width of a normal door, but twice as high to enable them to get the scenery in. And possibly the actors' egos.

Geoffrey then gave the tour a personal edge by revealing that his grandfather was Mr Mead of Mead & Co, formerly Brighton's leading antiques dealer, who would be turning in his grave to hear that his old office is now Riki Tik's cocktail bar. Although that's still preferable to the antiques business being sold to a man named Crook. Another ironic conversion turned out to be The Brighton Buddhist Centre, which prior to becoming a focal point for vegetarianism and those who believe in the sanctity of life, was the Co-op butcher's warehouse.

A quick jaunt around North Laine, and we crossed over to Carlton Hill, where a passer-by looked at our ragtag band of two dozen pensioners, three blokes in hats, and a woman with frostbite, and asked "Are you the Jesus Army?". He obviously knew you need a lot of faith to venture up Carlton Hill after dark. But as we proceeded through the violent gangland of Graham Greene's 'Brighton Rock', Lisa added to the atmosphere by spotting a nearby clinic and declaring "Oh, that's where I had my first smear test!". That was one fact Geoffrey didn't know.

Picking our way through the notorious Kingswood Flats and passing the all-night cafe where you can get a Double Gutbuster at 3am, we made our way back to the Pavilion where Geoff informed us that any donations would go towards the building of bat boxes in Hollingbury Woods. I gave £1.50 and asked them to build a bird box for Robin.

All in all it was the best night out I've had in Brighton since I met David Van Day in the frozen food section of Asda. If Geoffrey Mead took over from Simon Schama, I might actually watch some BBC history programmes. He's doing a walk around Hove on March 4th, and needless to say I'll be there. Unlike Lisa, who'll be tucked up in bed with the central heating on.

1 comments:

Phil's Mum That sounds really good - though I WOULD have to protest with the Baptists over turning their church into the first sex shop! I think all your blogger friends should join you for the next expedition and we could run a competition to see who can write the most entertaining report. Either that, or send today's blog into the Argus. They SHOULD print it!

05 February 2007, 13:36:42Lisa I've never made 'rock cakes to die for' but I have made rock cakes that could kill you if thrown from a distance - they were a touch on the heavy side.05 February 2007, 14:20:55Dave Pavilion Gardens cafe, or Lisa's rock cakes: take your pick.

That should be followed by the word axe, but I didn't want to be too rude, in case I wenture south this summer. I like rock cakes by the way, so if I do, you can take me there.

Nice report, by the way. You could almost feel you were there. I won't be giving such detail about my trip to Bruges.05 February 2007, 15:52:17Dave I like the use of the word 'wenture' there. Has a Dickensian feel, I think.05 February 2007, 15:53:12Beckie To be fair, Dave, there is less to do in Bruges than there is in Brighton. There's a great Indian restaurant though called Bhavani (http://www.bhavani.be/) bit pricy from what I remember, possibly not the sort of place Phil would go to,(or maybe we were greedy?), but lovely food.06 February 2007, 13:25:24